Feb 22, 2022

Population of American Bumblebee Diminished by Nearly 90 Percent Study Says


Once one of the most commonly found bumblebees in the United States, the population of the American bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus) is in serious decline. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed a petition calling for the species to be listed as an endangered or threatened species and found it "may be warranted."

The population has dropped by 89 percent and is headed toward extinction, according to the petition written by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Bombus Pollinators Association of Law Students of Albany Law School.

This sharp decline, the study stated, can be due to a number of factors, including habitat loss, pesticides, disease, climate change, competition with honey bees, and loss of genetic diversity.

"In the last 20 years, the American [bumblebee] has vanished from at least eight states, mostly in the Northeast, and it is in precipitous decline in many more," the study read.

Please read full at:
https://www.newsweek.com/population-american-bumblebee-diminished-nearly-90-percent-study-says-1636758